RBI Financial News

RBI has been vehemently opposed to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

According to Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth, the government is taking inputs from various stakeholders, including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). The government bureaucrat said that the consultation paper is almost ready and the government has gone deep into it. Seth remained tight-lipped over the timeline, but the sources suggest that it can be tabled in August this year.

According to some media reports last week, capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) proposed to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance that celebrities should not be allowed to endorse cryptocurrencies.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised a concern over cryptocurrencies or virtual digital assets (VDAs), which might lead to the 'dollarization' of the economy, as feared by the central bank. The apex lender fears that crypto assets, issued by foreign players, could be against the country's sovereign interest. Officials said cryptos have the potential to become a medium of exchange and replace the rupee in all financial transactions.

Cryptocurrencies can lead to "dollarisation" of a part of the economy which would be against India's sovereign interest, top officials of the RBI have told a parliamentary panel, according to sources.

Mumbai: In a strongly worded reaction to its recent run-in with the Indian central bank, Brian Armstrong, CEO and cofounder of Nasdaq-listed Coinbase said the company disabled its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services because of “informal pressure” from the Reserve

According to a tweet from Aditya Singh, Co-Founder of Crypto India, the major crypto trading platforms have registered a two-third in the trading volumes on their platforms. As announced in the union budget 2022, the Indian government is levying 30 per cent taxations on the gains arising from the trade of crypto assets. Many of the market players saw this move as an anti crypto stance.

Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal has backed FM Nirmala Sitharaman’s recent call for governments worldwide to evolve a suitable global regulatory regime to track new age crypto-currencies which can pose serious problems. “The world will move to crypto-currencies as it’s a fine technology, but nation states must collectively evolve a suitable global regulation to legitimise it and ensure such digital fund transfers happen in a safe environment, and that wrong people don’t benefit from it, especially as these transactions can’t be traced or tracked,” Mittal said at the Times Network India Economic Conclave 2022, Thursday. The telecom billionaire added that India is amongst the most important nations in a deeply-divided world as it has consistently valued its democratic system. This, he said, is also reflected in the fact that Indians today are CEOs of several top Fortune 500 countries, instead of anyone from neighbouring China, largely since MNCs across the world prefer to choose leaders from countries that have cherished democratic values and systems. “Do you really see even one Chinese heading an MNC today, there is none.”

Mumbai: Several cryptocurrency exchanges are facilitating peer-to-peer (P2P) deals while some platforms are directly accepting deposits from coin buyers to overcome the curbs imposed by banks and payment companies amid the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) voicing its reservations on these virtual digital assets. In a P2P transaction, the exchange, after receiving an order from a buyer, shares the seller’s bank account details with the buyer. The buyer then directly transfers funds to the seller using any of the regular online payment options while the seller moves the cryptocurrency lying in her wallet with the exchange to the buyer’s crypto wallet.Also Read: Crypto investors may switch to peer-to-peer transfer in case of ban

CoinSwitch Kuber, a large crypto intermediary, two persons told ET. What triggered the call is unclear, but sources said Kotak has decided to pause till the dust settles on cryptos. «There has been no fresh Reserve Bank of India directive asking banks to stay away from cryptos. But senior supervisory managers (of RBI) are telling some banks to exercise caution on cryptos till there is regulatory and legal clarity,» said a senior official of another bank. Kotak's stand could deal a blow to the unregulated industry. It follows digital wallet MobiKwik reportedly snapping its links with crypto-related payments since the beginning of April.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is in a position to start off with testing and running pilot projects of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) now that the legislative enablement has been done by the government, RBI Deputy Governor T. Rabi Shankar told reporters in a post monetary policy committee press conference on April 8.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has not proposed any mechanism for the trading of crypto assets, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in Parliament on March 21.

India, he said in a written reply. «RBI does not issue a cryptocurrency. Traditional paper currency is a legal tender and is issued by RBI in terms of provisions of RBI Act, 1994. A digital version of traditional paper currency is called Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC),» he said. RBI is currently working towards a phased implementation strategy for the introduction of CBDC and examining use cases that could be implemented with little or no disruption, he said in another reply.

The government will state its position on cryptocurrencies after completing the ongoing consultation process, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Is it possible for you to have crypto in your portfolio without actually owning the asset? Do you feel the process of crypto is complicated? Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest in Bitcoin or a basket of virtual assets, including several cryptocurrencies, might be a solution to navigate the crypto Wild West. Are these investment products available to Indians? What are the dos and don’ts? Aseem Gujar & Partha Sinha explore… When the US SEC allowed the first crypto-based ETF to be listed in October 2021, Bitcoin’s price had rallied to its record high of $67,000. Though the ETF didn’t invest directly in Bitcoin and instead bought its futures contracts, it was still a key event in crypto’s history as it signalled regulatory and institutional acceptance in the world’s largest financial market. Crypto futures are derivatives of virtual currencies similar to products on stocks, commodities, and other fiat currencies that are traded on exchanges globally. In recent months, several types of ETFs linked to crypto have debuted globally — some invest in virtual assets directly, some stick to futures, while others focus on stocks of companies that are in blockchain & other crypto-related areas. The first US ETF had created market history as it attracted $1 billion within days of its debut. But ETFs don’t just bring higher inflows, they also allow for a wider investor pool. Institutions and individuals are drawn to crypto ETFs as they are regulated investment vehicles. Presented ByDid you Know?You can earn in

Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Michael Patra on Wednesday said the central bank’s views about cryptocurrencies might have delayed the government’s proposed legislation on crypto assets.

Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Michael Patra on Wednesday said the central bank's views about cryptocurrencies might have delayed the government's proposed legislation on crypto assets. Emphasising that the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) will be introduced in FY23 as announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Budget speech, Patra said India will proceed very gradually on the subject as there are concerns on privacy, its impact on monetary policy formulation and energy intensity. The government had plans to introduce a bill on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin during the Winter Session of Parliament in November-December 2021 but did not introduce it. "RBI's view is quite known on crypto. I think it is the one of the views that has actually delayed a bill on that subject but we will engage in a fair debate on that subject and will look at all sides of the debate," Patra said, speaking at an event organised by the Pune International Centre.

In a little more than a year, discussions on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have moved from the fringe to the mainstream. In India, legal enablers for a digital currency have been put in place via the Finance Bill, 2022. All eyes are now on the Reserve Bank of India.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been a stringent critic of crypto assets, reiterating its tough stand on the new age asset class. Deputy governor T Rabi Sankar called for an outright ban on private cryptocurrencies at the IBA Banking Technology Awards. He claimed the notorious early 20th century Ponzi schemes were better than investing cryptos. Prior to this, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said that private cryptos are a serious threat to macroeconomic and financial stability, and investors should keep risks in mind as such assets have no underlying value whatsoever, 'not even a tulip'.

Mumbai: Tough talk by senior Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials on cryptocurrencies is making the Indian crypto community nervous. On Monday, RBI deputy governor T Rabi Sankar called for an outright ban on cryptocurrencies. Previously, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das had said in a monetary policy press conference that private cryptocurrencies were a threat to the macroeconomic and financial stability of the country, and investors should keep risks in mind as such assets have no underlying value whatsoever, «not even a tulip».

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor T Rabi Sankar Monday said that banning private cryptocurrencies is the best option for the country, reiterating its tough stand on the asset class. Sankar, who was speaking at the IBA Banking Technology Awards, told bankers that even the notorious early-20th century Ponzi schemes were better as the Ponzi plans invested in income earning assets while cryptos are just gambling instruments. “They (cryptos) threaten the financial sovereignty of a country and make it susceptible to strategic manipulation by private corporations creating these currencies or governments that control them,” Sankar said. “All these factors lead to the conclusion that banning cryptocurrency is perhaps the most advisable choice open to India.”